Air insulated dry bowl pipe



Jan. 21, 1969 E. H. CALKINS AIR INSULATED DRY BOWL PIPE Original Filed May 26, 1965 INVENTOR EDWARD H. CALKINS United States Patent 3,422,821 AIR INSULATED DRY BOWL PIPE Edward H. Calkins, Ken-Mar on the Hill, Rte. 2, Highway 27, Gaylord, Mich. 49735 Continuation of application Ser. No. 458,934, May 26, 1965. This application Dec. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 688,617

US. Cl. 131-195 Claims Int. Cl. A22f 1/22; A22f 1/18 ABSTRACT OF THE DICLOSURE A dry bowl smokers pipe including an outer bowl and an inner ceramic bowl releasably secured within the outer bowl by resilient means accommodating expansion of the inner bowl relative to the outer bowl.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 458,934 filed May 26, 1965, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a smokers pipe of the dry bowl type, such as disclosed in my US. Patent 3,028,867 as having means for trapping saliva to eliminate soggy bowl, and more particularly to a pipe, of the above described characteristics, in which the bowl is insulated from the fire chamber and cooled by air.

Ordinary pipes, even of the most expensive briars, are subject to two important defects. As the pipes are smoked, the bowls become heated to such high temperatures as to render them uncomfortable, if not imposible, to hold in the smokers hand, and saliva from the smokers mouth, after a period of time, collects in the bottom of the bowl, absorbs nicotine and tars, wets the tobacco and prevents complete burning, and ultimately is sucked up into the smokers mouth imparting a strong foul taste.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a smoking pipe which obviates both of the above named defects.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a smoking pipe in which the bowl is insulated to render the same cool to the touch and comfortable to hold.

It is also an important object of the invention to provide a smoking pipe having spaced cup-shaped bowls one within the other and means to generate a circulation of air into and out of the space between said bowls whereby to further insulate and cool the outer bowl.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a pipe, of the above described characteristics, in which the tobacco is burned in an inner bowl positioned within but spaced from an outer bowl by a plurality of insulating air spaces shaped to surround the inner bowl, said air spaces being filled, if desired, by strips or a liner of insulating material.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a pipe, of the above described characteristics, in which the outer bowl and stem may be integrally fabricated of relatively inexpensive material while the inner bowl is formed of a material having excellent smoking qualities, such as meerschaum, or fine quality briar.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pipe, of the above described characteristics, wherein the outer bowl and stem are integrally formed, or molded, of plastic material, and the inner bowl is molded of a meerschaum compound or machined, from meerschaum, whereby to render excellent smoking quality at very little cost.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a smoking pipe, of the above described characteristics, wherein the parts are of simple cylindrical and tapered shapes and are then capable of being inexpensively molded to reduce the cost of manufacture.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a pipe, of the above described characteristics, in which the inner bowl is secured in place in the outer bowl by a clamping means including a resilient member which permits expansion of the inner bowl due to combustion of the tobacco therein when the pipe is lighted.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a pipe so constructed as to separate the smoke passage from the salvia pasage in the area of the heel of the bowl.

A still further object of the invention lies in the provision of a pipe having replaceable means for absorbing untainted saliva from the mouth of the smoker, said means being spaced from the tobacco combustion chamber to ensure complete burning of the tobacco in said chamber.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a tobacco pipe having separate smoke and saliva passages at least in the portions of their lengths near the heel, or bowl, of the pipe, the smoke passage being positioned above the saliva pasage so as to take advantage of the natural tendency for heavier liquids to seek a lower level.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference char acters indicate like parts throughout the several figures and in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal, central, sectional view through a pipe constructed in accordance with the invention:

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing the bowl of the pipe and a portion of the stem;

FIG. 3 is a plan view similar to FIG. 2 showing the outer bowl only;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale illustrating the structure for securing the inner bowl within the outer bowl;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary exploded view illustrating the inner bowl and its securing members;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of a modified pipe bowl construction; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view partly in section of still another modified pipe bowl construction.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown a tobacco pipe 10 comprising an integral bowl 12 and stem 14, preferably molded of plastic material. However, these portions may be formed of ceramic, briar, metal, wood or other suitable material. Into the stem 14 is inserted a removable mouth piece, or bit 15, having a central bore 18. The stem 14 includes a longitudinal passage 20 which passes from end to end thereof and which is coaxial with the passage 18 in the bit. Replaceably inserted in the outer end of passage 20 is a threaded cartridge 22 having saliva, or liquid, absorbent material 24 therein. Cartridge 22 is preferably formed with a flattened nipple 26 at its outer end for grasping and applying turning movements, which enable easy removal and reinsertion of the cartridge. The cylinder of absorbent material 24 is provided at its inner end with an axial opening to slideably receive a tube 28 whose other end is removably inserted into bore 18 of the mouth piece 16. An aperture 30 is formed in tube 28 between the cartridge 22 and the mouth piece 16 for entrance of smoke. Preferably, aperture 30 is disposed in the upper surface of tube 28 when the latter is assembled.

As thus far described, the pipe according to the invention closely follows the construction of the dry bowl pipe disclosed in my Patent 3,028,867 referenced above. The construction to be described, however, differs materially from the patented pipe by presenting improvements in manufacture and advantages in the reduction of costs and improvement of smoking qualities. The bowl portion 12 is preferably cylindrical in shape for ease of molding, or machining, and is provided with a conical bottom 32 having its apex facing downwardly and terminating in a fairly large opening 34. A smoke passage 36 is formed in the stern in an inclined direction, its inner end intersecting and communicating with the bore passage 20, its intermediate portion communicating with the smoke opening 34 in the outer bowl, and its outer end terminating at the outer periphery of the bowl in an orifice plugged by threaded member 38. Removal of the threaded plug 38 permits cleaning of the smoke passage 36.

The interior surface of the bowl portion 12 is formed with a plurality of narrow vertical ribs 40 leaving grooves 42 for air between adjacent ribs. Twenty-four such ribs are shown in FIG. 2, but obviously any desired number may be utilized. The size of the air spaces located between the outer bowl and an inner bowl to be described is determined by the number of ribs around the bowl, by the radial extent thereof, or by both. The ribs 40 are prolonged in the conical bottom surface 32 of bowl 12 by wedge-shaped and radially directed ribs 44 (see FIG. 3) extending to the central opening 34 at the apex of the cone. Between adjacent pairs of ribs 44 are similarly shaped recesses, or grooves 46, which communicate with the vertical side grooves 42 and permit movement of air therebetween. A circular channel 37 in the conical surface 32 intersects the ribs 44 and connects all the grooves 46 for communication with a plurality of small bores 35 extending from channel 37 to the outer surface of bowl 12.

Since the outer bowl portion 12 of the stem is preferably formed of a plastic material which does not have good smoking qualities, an inner bowl 50 is provided and preferably formed of meerschaum, or of a high quality briar. Desirably, the inner bowl is molded from a compound containing a relatively high proportion of meer schaum particles so as to reduce the cost of the inner bowl and yet retain the high refractory and porous qualities of meerschaum to absorb nicotine, tars and acid vapors produced by burning tobacco. To facilitate the economical molding of the inner bowl, it is preferably constructed of simple shape, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, as a cylinder having a conical bottom 52 with a central smoke opening 54 surrounded by a projecting collar, or boss 56. The conical angulation of the bottom 52 is not as clearly evident in FIG. due to the fact that this is a perspective taken from above the inner bowl. Thus, the side, bottom and boss walls of the inner bowl 50 complement the corresponding internal wall surfaces of the outer bowl 12 so as to fit closely therein and be fully supported thereby. The outer diameter of bowl 50 is preferably only slightly less than the inner diameter of the outer bowl 12 measured to the ribs 40, and the boss 56 similarly fits fairly closely within the opening 34 in the stem. Thus, the bowl 50 may be easily slid downwardly into the assembled position shown in FIG. 1 in which the peripheral surface of the inner bowl is spaced from the outer bowl 12 by the ribs 40, the boss 56 centers the inner bowl, and the bottom 52 of the inner bowl seats on the ribs 44 of the conical bottom 32 of the outer bowl.

To hold the inner bowl in place, a resilient member 58, preferably formed of a spring metal and in the shape of a split washer as best shown in FIG. 5, is seated on the upper edge of the inner bowl 50. The resilient member 58 is provided with a series of corrugations 60 which increase its resiliency and also allow air to travel through the corrugation depressions from the external to the internal periphery. Desirably, the internal and external diameters of the split washer are approximately equal to those of the inner bowl 50. The washer can be cheaply stamped from spring metal.

A holding ring, or clamping member 62, best seen in FIG. 5, is also formed as an annulus, preferably having the same internal and external diameters as the inner bowl. Thread 64 is formed on the outer periphery of clamp member 62 and cooperates with similar threads formed on the internal surface of the upper parts of ribs 40. To facilitate the assembly and disassembly of the clamping member, it is provided with two openings 66, preferably disposed diametrically, for reception of prongs, or pins, of a wrenchlike tool which enables one to easily screw or unscrew the clamp member 62 into or out of the top of the outer bowl 12. When the clamp member 62 is screwed in, as shown to best advantage on an enlarged scale in FIG. 4, the resilient ring 58 is compressed and the inner bowl 50 is securely clamped in position against the bottom ribs 44. When the inner bowl 50 becomes heated due to burning of tobacco, the resultant expansion is permitted by further compression of the corrugations 60 in ring 58.

The described pipe functions in the following manner, Tobacco in chamber 50 is lighted and suction is applied to the bit 16 by the smoker. Smoke will pass through the smoke opening 54 into the passageway 36 in the stem 14, through bore 20, aperture 30 and bore 18 to the mouth of the smoker. Saliva from the smokers mouth, because it is heavier than smoke, will after a period of time gravitate along the bore 18 and tube 28 directly into the absorbent material 24. Thus, saliva is prevented from gaining direct access to tobacco in the bowl, which, therefore, remains relatively dry to burn freely and substantially completely.

It will be noted that the described path for smoke generally is above and separated from that of the saliva except in the bore 18. Thus when the smoke and saliva meet, it is only at a point close to the smokers month, where the saliva is relatively untainted by absorption of tars, or nicotine. Should any liquids, tars, or other contaminates, condense, form in, or be carried by the smoke in its passage through smoke opening 54, these will gravitate down the inclined passage 36 to collect in the bottom of the bore 20, where they will ultimately be absorbed by the material 24.

During smoking, the meerschaum bowl is heated by proximity to the burning tobacco and also by smoke containing nicotine, tars and the like, absorbed in its porous wall. However, this bowl is spaced from the outer bowl 12 by the numerous small grooves 42 between the ribs 40 and also by the corresponding air spaces in the conical bottom portion of the outer bowl. Air in these spaces does not conduct heat as rapidly as would solid material and accordingly serves to insulate the outer bowl 12 from inner bowl 50. This renders the outer surface of bowl 12 relatively cool to the touch, so that the pipe is capable of being held in the hand of the smoker at all times with comfort. In addition, the vertical disposition of the air grooves 42 tends to create a certain amount of air circulation, that is the air in the spaces 42 as it becomes heated will rise and, since the grooves are open at their upper ends, will exit upwardly from between the 'bowls in the direction of arrows A, FIG. 4. Air escaping, through the top openings of the spaces 42, will be replaced by cool air entering bores 35, passing through channel 37 and rising through grooves 46 into the spaces 42. A small amount of heated air will escape inwardly through the corrugation depressions in the split ring 58 and thus leave the pipe through the central opening in the top of the inner bowl, see arrows B, FIG. 4. Such escaping air will also be re placed by cool air entering through bores 35 as described above.

The described circulation adds to the air insulation effect and increases the cooling so as to maintain the outer surface of bowl 12 comfortably cool. If a greater amount of circulation and a greater cooling effect is desired, the number and size of the small openings 35 formed, or drilled, in the stem of the pipe near the bottom of bowl 12 may be increased. This will admit additional cool air to the bottoms of the air spaces to replace heated air rising in the vertical portions of said air spaces, and thus an accelerated circulation can be obtained. It is desirable to obtain such accelerated circulation by additional passages, as described, rather than by enlarging the opening 34 to provide a looser fit around the boss 56, for in the latter case the efforts of the smoker to draw in smoke from bowl 50 would result in also drawing in a certain amount of heated air from the air spaces around the bowl 50.

The described circulation and exit of air from the air spaces 42 not only improve the comfort of the pipe, by heat insulating the outer bowl, but also improves the smoking qualities by permitting the smoke and noxious materials, which have been absorbed in the meerschaum bowl 50, to evaporated and exit from the bowl through said air spaces when the pipe is not being smoked. Thus the pores of the meerschaum bowl are vented and freed of noxious materials which, if prevented from evaporation, would tend to be drawn with smoke into the mouth of the smoker the next time the pipe is lighted.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a modified pipe is partially shown which in all respects may be identical with that described above and illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 except that channels 42' corresponding to grooves 42 are wider and fewer in number and in each channel 42' is inserted a strip 70 of insulating material which may be of any desired material. Preferably, strips 70 are formed of moss or mesh type fiberglass having a great many microscopic pockets which retain air and thus provide good insulation. Such insulating material impedes convection air currents in the space between the inner and outer bowls and accordingly the bores 35 for promoting air circulation may be omitted.

The modified pipe illustrated in FIG. 7 also may be identical with that of FIGS. 1-5 except that between the inner and outer bowls is seated a liner cup 72 formed of insulating material such as mesh type glass fiber. The liner 72 conforms in shape to the inner bowl 50 but is slightly larger and slightly thicker than the space between the bowls. Thus, upon seating liner 72 in bowl 12 and inserting the inner bowl 50, the flexible liner 72 is compressed slightly and portions enter the grooves 42 or 42 to completely fill the air space between the bowls.

It will be apparent from the above description that the invention affords many advantages. After an ordinary pipe has been smoked for a brief period of time the heat from the glowing tobacco coals and the heated smoke passing through the stem tend to make the bowl and inner stem portion so hot that the pipe cannot be comfortably held in the hand of the smoker. A pipe constructed as described above will never become so uncomfortably hot that it cannot be 'held no matter how long it is smoked. The tobacco in the combustion area is entirely separated from the saliva passage, which permits free and complete burning. The bowl will remain dry and the smoke passages uncontaminated. T he saliva absorption material can be easily and quickly replaced at required intervals. The separation of the smoke and saliva passages also prevents contamination of the smoke. All of these features and advantages result in a dry, cool smoke having a clean taste of pure tobacco flavor. Since the inner bowl is made of highly refractory and porous material, such as meerschaum, which absorbs a high proportion of the noxious tars and other smoke products, a high quality smoking pipe is afforded at nominal cost, the outer bowl and stem being capable of economical fabrication and of relatively cheap material.

The mode of assembling the inner bowl inside the outer bowl with the clamping ring 58 and the holding ring 62 permits repairs to be quickly and inexpensively made, since only the damaged element, whether it be stem 14, bit 16, inner bowl 50, or any other part, need to be replaced. In ordinary pipes, the damage to one part of the pipe, with the exception of the stem, normally means that the pipe must be discarded. The pipe being manufactured and assembled from standard parts, a variety of colors, exterior finishes and even contours can be easily produced at low cost without affecting the smoking quality of the pipe which is guaranteed by the porous inner bowl and the smoke and saliva passage structure which ensures a dry smoke.

Changes in shape or contour, color, material, etc., of various elements of the pipe may obviously be made without departing from the invention. It is possible, for example, to provide the inner bowl of a different shape and with a flat bottom which omits boss 56. The ribs 40 defining the air spaces may, if desired, be formed on the inner bowl rather than the outer bowl and such ribs obviously need not be vertical, but could be disposed in other angles and even provided with intercommunicating cross grooves to permit passage of air from one groove to another.

Although certain specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it is obvious that many modifications thereof are possible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An air insulated smoking pipe comprising an outer shell having bowl and stem portions, an inner bowl positioned within said bowl portion of the outer shell, spacing means separating said bowl portion and inner bowl and defining an air space substantially surrounding said inner bowl, and retaining means above said inner bowl securing the inner bowl within said shell, said retaining means comprising resilient means seated on the upper end of said inner bowl and a holding ring releasably secured to said shell and overlying said resilient means to secure said resilient means and inner bowl therein, said resilient means comprising a split ring formed of spring material and having corrugations.

2. A smoking pipe according to claim 1 wherein said spacing means comprises a plurality of ribs formed on the inner surface of the said bowl portion of the shell, and threads on the upper ends of said ribs to receive threads on the periphery of said holding ring.

3. A smoking pipe according to claim 2 wherein said bowl portion of the shell is formed with a cone shaped bottom having its apex facing downwardly and terminating in a smoke orifice at said apex, said ribs being vertically disposed on the side wall of said bowl portion and continuing downwardly on said cone shaped bottom in radially disposed rib portions which converge toward said smoke orifice.

4. A smoking pipe according to claim 3 wherein said inner bowl is formed of meerschaum, said inner bowl having a cylindrical upper portion, and a conical lower portion terminating in a protruding neck which fits within said smoke orifice.

5. A smoking pipe according to claim 2 wherein said inner bowl is of less height than said bowl portion and said split ring and holding member fit entirely Within said bowl portion.

6. A smoking pipe according to claim 2 wherein strips of insulating material are inserted between and substantially for the full lengths of said ribs.

7. An air insulated smoking pipe comprising an outer shell having a generally vertical bowl and generally horizontal stem portion, said bowl on its inner side having axially disposed radially extending spaced vertical ribs, an inner bowl positioned within said bowl portion and cooperating with said vertical ribs to define vertical air spaces therebetween and substantially surrounding said inner bowl, a retaining member above said inner bowl and releasably secured to said outer shell but leaving said vertical air spaces unobstructed at the upper open end of said bowl, and resilient means seated on the upper end of said inner bowl and interposed between said bowl upper end and said member to accommodate longitudinal expansion of the inner bowl due to heat.

8. An air insulated smoking pipe according to claim 7 wherein said retaining member comprises a ring above said inner bowl and releasably secured to the inner surfiaces of said ribs to leave said vertical air spaces unobstructed at the upper open end of said bowl.

9. A smoking pipe according to claim 8 wherein said resilient means defines passages between said vertical air spaces and the interior of the upper end of said inner bowl.

10. A smoking pipe according to claim 7 wherein said resilient means defines passages between said vertical air spaces and the interior of the upper end of said inner bowl.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 719,683 2/ 1903 Moehlenbrock 131--196 582,423 2/ 1897 Henne.

858,737 7/1907 Marshall 131195 1,461,126 7/ 1923 Lasure 131220 5/1926 Watters 131-195 9/1943 Andis 131-195 10/1952 Batty 131196 5/1953 Nadelson 131-220 X 9/ 1955 Holderrnan 131-226 X 4/ 1962 Calkins 13 l-203 12/ 1966 Zarikta 131-220 X FOREIGN PATENTS 2/1906 France.

8/ 1891 Germany. 11/ 1896 Great Britain.

9/1923 Great Britain.

1/1927 Great Britain.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

